So... now it's gradually heading north as far as possible. What looks like a hop on the map, namely the section from Auckland to the northernmost tip of New Zealand, has proven to be very diverse so far - and we haven't even reached the northern tip yet. On the drive north, we followed the advice of our Kiwi acquaintances so far and drove along the eastern coast.
Lush hills and deep blue sea - New Zealand as seen in travel magazines.
On the lookout wall ...
All in all, Tawharanui is a very beautiful peninsula. Many kiwis seem to come here to have a nice picnic and BBQ. The water is even quite pleasant once you've been in it for a few minutes. With your feet.
So blue, so white, so green .... beautiful... ...Scenery! After staying overnight, we continued to ************ Mangawhai Heads Beach ******************* So nice warm, black sand.... and how it glistens :-) The landscape becomes flatter over time. Northland (which is the whole region north of Auckland) is more or less dedicated to agriculture. There are some tourist hotspots, but basically it's all farmland (sheep and cows). There is apparently high unemployment in the region (especially among the Maoris here) and it seems difficult to find jobs. However, Northland is the part where most Aucklanders spend their summer vacation. Farmland, farmland. You have to be careful not to hit a runaway lamb with the car. ********* Relieving yourself with Hundertwasser **************** We spent our next night in Kawakawa, where Hundertwasser lived for several years. The town asked him for a small sign of his favor and so he built them..... .... a toilet.According to the brochures, he not only designed the typical, asymmetric design, but also helped out himself, which makes the toilets even more famous. Hannes, of course, was an art philistine and had to be asked again to take a look inside the toilets. Here's the women's toilet: You feel culturally enriched with every visit to the bathroom. ************* Russell and collecting grape leaves ********* The rest of the week we spent in Russell, one of the places that the Kiwis always highlight. It is the oldest white settlement in New Zealand, founded in the early 19th century, and is located in a bay on the Bay of Islands. You can see Russell Downtown, Russell East, Russell West .... well, basically everything in Russell. Typical houses: located on the hillside, made of thin wood, with water tanks in the garden. Because there is no municipal water supply here, but rather rainwater is collected and you hope that it will last throughout the summer. Houses here cost between 800,000 and 2 million New Zealand dollars. You can also see the importance that Russell currently has as a holiday destination by the fact that the town of 816 residents has 3 real estate offices. Promenade with about 3 restaurants/cafés and a supermarket. The best way to reach Russell is by the car ferry from Opua on the other side of the bay. In Russell, we stayed for the rest of the week, because we found our first paid job - as vineyard helpers. We came down the hill every morning from the street (left). We had a lot of company during our breaks :-) Our main tasks were to pick certain leaves that would take nutrients away from the grapes, and to prune the vines so that they would continue to grow upwards instead of becoming bushy. Working hours were usually from 7:00 - 15:30 including a 30-minute lunch break. In addition to us, the Indian manager and a Maori, a backpacker from France, Claire, also worked with us. The hourly wage was 16 NZD (gross), which is the minimum wage here.The fancy headgear is necessary. Otherwise, the sun would fry your head even at low temperatures. A less popular task: 'cleaning plants'. Bag up, clean trunk (pluck useless leaves, pull out grass), bag down, occasionally snip something off, take a step forward, bag up... And almost every time you have to crouch. You can probably imagine how you feel after 8 hours of this activity. So we spent very relaxed and beautiful days with Evan and Sarah. Now we said goodbye and are on our way to the northern tip. So we are getting a little closer to you :-) See you soon.HanNZette
